Optical devices are being incorporated into material handling industrial vehicles such as automatic guided vehicles (AGVs), operate to assist keeping the vehicles on a prescribed path. Likewise, loads picked up by material handling vehicles can be identified using optical devices to ensure the correct load is being picked up and moved by the vehicle.
Such optical devices, such as optical guidance systems are often subjected to varying atmospheric and air quality conditions. Lenses forming part of the optical devices can be obstructed or rendered inoperative due to an accumulation of condensation and dust as a result of operating under such conditions. For example, an optical guidance system mounted on an AGV uses a beam of directed light to reflect back from specific known reflectors to determine the vehicle position relative to the reflectors. Likewise, a bar code scanner mounted on a vehicle uses light to read a bar code on a load on board the vehicle or prior to picking up the load to ensure the desired load is about to be transported. An accumulation of dust, dirt, or condensation on the lens of the optical device will reduce the distance that the reflectors can be detected or cause a code to be misread. In environments where condensation is prevalent due to the vehicle moving in and out of varying temperature and humidity zones, optical devices either cannot be used or are significantly reduced in function.
Conventionally, optical device lenses are either cleaned on a scheduled basis, or only when it becomes non-functional. Neither of these solutions provide an efficient and cost-effective method for operation of material handling vehicles. For example, during a scheduled cleaning time or when the equipment becomes non-functional, the vehicle must be taken out of operation until the lenses are cleaned. In addition to the cost of the cleaning procedure, the downtime required for the cleaning procedure results in a drop in vehicle productivity. Therefore, a need exists for a system to prevent dust and dirt particles from accumulating on the lenses of scanners and vision equipment without requiring vehicle downtime. A need also exists for a system to allow efficient use of scanners and vision equipment on vehicles moving in and out of varying temperature and humidity zones.